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Oysters, Fritters of

Fried oysters coated in a seasoned batter and breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Oysters, Fritters of

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the oysters

  1. Open the oysters and simmer them in their own liquor for 2 minutes.

  2. Remove the gills from the oysters and set them aside.

Batter and fry

  1. Beat the eggs and mix in the milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg, mace, and lemon rind.

  2. Dip the oysters into the batter, then coat them with bread crumbs.

  3. Fry in hot fat until brown and crisp, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the batter and help it set into a firm coating around the oysters.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, browned outer crust when fried.
Oysters
Provide the main filling and a briny, savory flavor.

The step that matters

Fry in hot fat until brown and crisp. Fat that is hot enough sets the egg batter and crumbs quickly, creating a crisp crust before the oysters overcook. Fat that is too cool soaks in and leaves the coating greasy and soft.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oyster, egg, milk, pepper, nutmeg, lemon, bread):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Cinnamonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against oyster, egg, milk, pepper, nutmeg, lemon, bread. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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